CEiMB: Chinese Chicken Salad

Last weekend, Ryan was away on a business-related trip, and I was looking forward to a few days to myself. There has only been one other occasion in the two and a half years we’ve lived together that he has been gone overnight, and that trip was even shorter than this one. I have immense respect for those wives and husbands who are separated for long stretches of time or on frequent intervals, but since it’s a rarity around here, I planned to enjoy my time alone with my other three boys. There were visions of romantic comedy marathons, being sprawled out across the bed, and eating whatever I wanted running through my head. Now, I would like to say I fully enjoyed my few days to myself, but the universe had some other plans for me. There was a little drama in my apartment complex, and while everything and everyone is fine, I don’t think I have ever been so happy to have Ryan home and not live alone in my life. And I can promise you that Sinatra, most assuredly Ryan’s cat and not mine, was even more excited than I was.

Knowing that Ryan would be away, I planned my meals accordingly. Despite his increasing bravery in terms of food, there are still some of my favorites that he cannot stand. Shrimp and grits, for example. I am enamored. He thinks grits are disgusting. Another area of contention: salads. I love salad and eat one with a meal just about every day. He passes any time he’s given the option. But when I didn’t get around to making this week’s CEiMB recipe without him, Ryan was subjected to not only eating a salad, but having it be dinner in its entirety. Oh, the horror.

I have to admit, when I saw Danica‘s pick for this week’s recipe, I was not excited. I just don’t love sweet salads. The idea of fruit mixed with lettuce and meat just doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I decided to buck up and give it a try. Worst case, I could always pick around the orange segments, right? Well, Ryan and I were both practically licking out bowls after this one. I can’t promise he’s a salad convert, and I’ll still be hesitant about tossing fruit into my greens, but this one was a hit.

Thanks so much to Danica for a great pick this week! Be sure to check out her blog – she posts awesome recipes and step-by-step instructions. She also helps run another great site, Friends for Weight Loss, that is a great resource and support group for anyone struggling to lose a few pounds.

In a large bowl, combine lettuce, cabbage, broccoli slaw, water chestnuts, Mandarin orange and chicken. In a separate bowl, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, garlic, ginger, oil, sesame oil, brown sugar and chili sauce. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Divide among bowls and top each serving with almonds.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

5 Comments

You did a terrific job with the salad. We enjoyed it as well. Of course Ted would have LOVED the chicken in it but I didn’t tell him it was SUPPOSE to be chicken instead of salmon. He never knew the diff. Next time, I’ll surprise him and use chicken :)

Wow, your salad looks so inviting! I was too lazy to slice my whole almonds; your sliced almonds make the salad so pretty. I agree with you about fruit in my salad, but I was floored by how much I liked it here.

Oh, and to answer your question: napa cabbage, in my opinion, is not bitter at all. It kinda almost reminds me of a cross between iceberg and romaine. We really like it at my house; definitely give it a try sometime. Better than plain ol’ green cabbage, for sure!

Looks great…hoping to get to this yet and double post next week…have the one for next week done already, so that should tell you that either I got the weeks mixed up or that I put cake before salad…hint: I would go with the cake deal when choosing. lol Nice post and photo!